1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a labor and material saving device for use in the installation of masonry paving systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device which a tradesman or any individual can use, in one fluid motion, to scoop up, compact, measure and mold a masonry mixture upon which masonry paving systems can then be placed.
2. Prior Art
The laying of heavy masonry or stone pavers is a tedious, labor intensive installation procedure. Specific to this generalized procedure is the forming of a concrete slab under the intended masonry walkway, with concrete curbs surrounding it. The concrete slab is sloped slightly to preinstalled drains and then protected by a waterproof membrane. The procedure is to now install masonry pavers or cut stone so their top edge is flush with the poured concrete curb with a joint of 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch between the masonry units and curbs and between each masonry unit so rain water can drain between them and be channeled to the drains beneath the masonry structure. In the past, pavers or other masonry units were laid upon masonry mixtures, wetpack or mortar, which had been tediously mounded up using a mason's trowel, under the four corners of rectangular pavers, or dumped in one large pile, under the center of a masonry unit, using a shovel. The tradesman would then "set" the paver material on the mounded up masonry mixture, level and square it up. There are multiple problems with this long used technique. The masonry mixture is an unformed mound, uncompacted and unregulated in size. This old technique requires the tradesman to relay a percentage of paving material that sink too low on the masonry mixture after they are placed. Also a considerable amount of masonry mixture is wasted and the waterproof membrane area under the paving structure becomes a mess of wetpack or mortar.
I noted that if the masonry mixture could be precompacted, making it denser, and molded into a general tapered geometric shape, with a larger area at its base tapering to a smaller area at its top, it could better withstand the downward force of the heavy masonry paving system. The savings in the amount of the masonry mixture used with a simple, onsite, regulated premolding system would be appreciable. This technique would reduce labor and fatigue, through less paving material having to be relaid and less masonry mixture having to be processed and handled with a resultant increase in job production.
No device is known, however, which would fulfill the purposes of the present invention, which would allow for the compaction, molding, measuring and delivery of a masonry mixture upon which to lay masonry paving systems.